Mower knife and guard finger



sept. 7 (1926'. Y 1,599,007

' F. CRAWFORD IOWER KNIFE AND GUARD FINGER Filed August 25, 1922 2Sheets-Shoot l' sw;A 7 192e. 1,599,007

F. CRAWFQD uowER KNIFE AND GUARD FINGER Filed August 23. 1922 2Sheets-Shoot 2 kPatented Sept. 7, 1926.

PATE-Nr QFFICE.

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iviownit- Knien AND GUARD FINGER.

Application filed August 23, A1922. Serial No.r 583,821.

ments embodied therein;

Fig. 2 yis a transverse section on the line 2- 2 ofFig. l; Y l

view of a guard finger;

Fig. y4 is an enlarged section taken on the Y"line'l: of Fig. 1; f

Fig. 5 is al detail perspective view of the stationary knife; f

Fig. 'G isa detail vperspective view of the anchoringib'o'lt; f

Fig. 7 Ais a perspective view of a guard .finger of a soniewhatdifferentform;

AFig. 8 is a perspective view-of the Aknife `to be carried by therfinger `shown in Fig. 7

Figs. 9.and -10 are -views siinilar to Figs. 7 and 8 respectivelyshowing another'gfoiin of the invention, and

1 F'g. `11 is a peispective'view of another forni of guard finger; Y

Fig. V12-is a detail=view1ofthe rear endof the guardfinger shown in Fig.11, with the iinger bar in transverse section.

The linger)bary shown in Figs. l, 2 and 4 is constructed of twoilat-barsl and 2 arranged oneabove the other inspaced relation andhavinglillerlblocks Sinserted between thein "at intervals. The'filler!dor. spacer .blocks 34 49 are secured in "place bylbolts 4 lwhich Vareinserted vertically through `theebars yl and 2 and through the spacerorfiller fblocks, asy will be readily understood, and thesef-A bolts arealso utilized to .secureupon the uppergbar l a rwearplate whichfitsagainst the 'front#edgebfffthe upper bar and receives the wear whichwould otherwise be imposed upon the said bar by the Vcutter bar. Keeperplates 6 are also secured upon 50 the uppei` ybar by the said bolts 4,and these keeper plates project forwardly beyond the finger bar so as toextend over the cutter bar `in the use of the device and thereby reventthe cutter bar rising while at work. 1'llhe guard fingers 7 are of theusual tapered form in their forward portions and in their F ig. 3 isy anenlarged detail perspective disposed, while the rear ends thereof v.are.inclined downwardly and forwardly; las

rear portions Vare constructed to present the transverse shouldersS'attheir lowerfsdes i `which abut the 'front edge of the `under nieinber 2:of .the finger bar. Above the l.transverse shoulder 8, anchoringtongues 9 extend fi'oni the body of the guard finger .to lit closelybetween thenpper and lower V lii'ieinbei's ll and 2 of `the finger bar.y These tongues 9 `arevseparated` to provide a slot or longitudinalspace l0, as shown inost 1 cleargly inl Fig. 3, and this space isexpanded laterally at its front end so as, to present .recessesornotches 1l `in the opposed walls of :the tongues, as will be readilyunderstood. The forward ends of the notches are vertically clearlyshown. An anchoring Ybolt 1 2 is lit-ted within lthe space or slot :10,yand ,portions to` bear yupon the rearinclined .walls of the ynotches ll.F roin the headjld; a

flat-.sided shank l5 extends `rearwardly to `engage snugly withintheslot Lo r space 10.

and froin the said flat-sided shank, a thread! ed .stein 16 projectsto"V therear of the finger bar. Thethreaded; `stein is engaged `bya nuti7 at its extremity and a washer, ,plate 18 isextended thez full lengthof the finger :bar to bridge the lrear edges of theineinbers ll` and 2of the saine The XVmasher is, `of course, `provided at preper .intervalswith 4openingsto receive the stein 16.- of tlie aiichor bolts, and. whenthe nut-s aretiiriir'edhoine against the washer, theentirelinger willfbe Vcloseduand the,V guard y`4finger. secured thereto.; lTheeuard.llsers @reef Wise, @O11- "structed withlthe guards 1910i the Vusuallor any preferred `form and below the Asaid f gua-rds support .thelstationary `vknives" V20 These 1 knives lare provi ded at Vtheir frontVends with ,lips` or tongues' 21 adapted .to

engage sockets "provided therefor in the guard finger, as will bereadily understood upon reference to Fig. 4. The guard finger isconstructed with a longitudinal channel 22 which merges into the slot orspace 10 and the upper side of the finger is c-onstructed also withlateral spacing lugs 23 adapted to abut the similar lugs of an adja-Vcent finger so that the fingers will lieinain tained in properspaced-relation. The lim ger is reduced in height in rear of the spacer.lugs 23 and in the upper surface of the reduced portion, I form thegroove 2li which defines a channel to receive and guide the cutter bar,as will be readily understood. The stationary knife 2O is constructedwith a holding tongue 25 at its rear end, which tongue depends from theknife, as shown at 526, so as to clear the fioiit side of the cutter barand then extends rearwardly, as shown at 27, along the base of thechannel 22 and projects under the head 13 of the anchoring bolt. Therear corners of the knife are cut away diagonally, as shown at 2S, so asto engage against the obliquely disposed shoulders 29 provided on theupper sides of the stop lugs 23 at the inner ends of the same. Thisconstruction facilitates the fitting of the stationary knife in placeand also holds it effectually against lateial movement after it has beenplaced in position. The front end of thestationary knife is, of course,held against movement by the engagement of the lip 2l in the body of theguard finger and the rear end of the knife is effectually held againstdisplacement by the engagement of the edges of the tongue 25 with theside walls of the channel 22 and through the pressure exerted upon theextremity of said tongue by the head of the anchoring bolt. By employinga single washer at the rear side of the finger bar, I effectually closethe space between the upper and lower members of said bar and also aidin maintaining the guard fingers and the anchor bolts in the properspaced relation while facilitating the assemblage of the parts' andthereby reducing the cost of production.

In the form shown in Fig. 7, the vertical shoulders 30 upon the guardfinger are not disposed obliquely as in the previously described formbut extend across the lateral spacing lugs 31 nearly at a right angle tothe length thereof and ribs or abutiiients 32 extend inwardly from therear ends of said shoulders along the rear upper corners of the lugs.The knife 33 has its side edges cut on straight lines from their frontto their rear extremities so that their rear portions may abut theshoulders 30 while their rear end edges 3f fit against the ribs 32, thedepending portion 35 of the tongue having its rear face fiush with therear surfaces of the lugs 31.

In the forni shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the vertical shoulders 3G extendobliquely across the spacing lugs 87 but terminate at the vert-ical sidewalls of the longitudinal channel in the guard finger instead of leavingan open space at each side of the channel at the top of the spacinglugs, as in the firstdescribed forni. 'lhe stationary knife 3 has itsrear corners cut away obliqucly, as at 39, so that the entire cornersare removed. In Fig. 1l, I have shown the guard finger constructed atits rear end with a portion a0 to bear against the underside of theordinary finger bar and be secured in place by a bolt passed verticallythrough an opening 4l in said portion i() and through the linger bar,the guard finger having upstanding lugs 42 to bear against the frontedge of the finger bar. rIhe longitudinal channe i3 and shoulders #ifmay be of any of the described forins. Near the rear extremity of thefinger, a lug l5 is provided on the upper fiat surface of the portionll() to engage snugly in a socket 4G in the under side of the finger bar47.

IIaving thus described what is claimed as new is In a cutting apparatusfor mowers, the combination with a finger bar having finger-receivingspaces, of guard fingers havthe invention,

Ving their rear end portions fitting into said spaces, each guard fingerhaving a knifereceiving seat and a groove extending longitudinally ofthe seat and beyond the rear end thereof and merging into alongitudinally ext-ending slot open at its rear end, the si-de walls ofthe slot being formed with opposed recesses extending forwardly beyondthe forward end of the slot into the side walls of the groove, andhaving a tongue depending from its rear end into said groove andextending to the rear end of the groove, and a fastener iiiclmgling ashank extending longitudinally in said slot and projecting from the rear'end thereof for engagement with the finger bar, and a head at theforward end of .said shank having extended side portions fitting intosaid recesses and having its forward end portion resting upon the rearend portion of said tongue to hold the tongue and rear end portion ofthe knife against upward movement.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

FRED CRAWFORD. [Il Si 4

